BGSU baseball defeated the Western Michigan Broncos 5-2 in the first game of the Falcon’s final home series this season.
Bowling Green scored one run in the first inning. Redshirt senior third baseman Anthony Mitta singled to score senior second baseman Sam Seidel.
The second and third innings were quiet with neither team scoring. In the fourth inning, the Falcons extended their lead via a three-run home run from Seidel. He scored himself, freshman shortstop Griffin Scheiderer and junior first baseman Vinny Salvione.
“I thought we came in today with the right mindset,” Seidel said postgame. “We had energy, and we got some runs on the board early for Stade, and that was huge.”
Sam Seidel now holds the Bowling Green team lead for home runs this season. His seven home runs gives him the slight edge over redshirt senior right fielder Zack Horky and freshman catcher Andrew DiLodovico, who each have six.
Both teams struck for one run in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, redshirt senior starting pitcher Ethan Stade gave up the Broncos’ run through a solo home run from redshirt senior designated hitter Lucas Rick.
He threw 7.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits and a hit-by-pitch. Stade also struck out fifteen batters in his third win, the most he has tallied this season.
“Every day I have a program for the specific day,” said Stade. “And keeping track, staying consistent, you know, it helps me perform out there.”
The Falcons immediately brought the game back to its four-run deficit with two doubles in the bottom of the fifth: one double from DiLodovico and an RBI double from Horky.
“You’re always trying to extend the lead,” Seidel said. “So, any way we can get guys over is amazing. It gives our pitcher some room to breathe, makes them feel like they don’t have to be perfect out there.”
After a BG run had scored and a walk had followed, Broncos junior starting pitcher Zach Vriesenga was relieved by senior Matt Hoover. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Adam Lehmann entered to pitch the final two innings.
Western Michigan was only able to tack on one more run. Redshirt senior pitcher Ty Roder threw a wild pitch, allowing junior center fielder Tanner Mally to score. The run was credited to Stade as an unearned run.
Roder was the only BG pitcher to enter in relief. He pitched the final 1.1 innings, not allowing any runs on just one hit. Roder ended the game throwing back-to-back strikeouts.
“We can’t get too low after a loss. We can’t get too high after a win,” head coach Kyle Hallock said. “We need to expect to come out and win tomorrow and we need to control the adversity and the difficult positions that Western Michigan is going to put us in.”
The Falcons will host Game Two of the weekend series versus Western Michigan on Saturday. First pitch of Bowling Green’s senior-day game is set for 3 p.m.
